If you believe you have experienced discrimination or a human rights violation, please visit our Dealing with Discrimination page for more information. Do not hesitate to contact us with your concerns as soon as possible.
We are a leading advocate on behalf of the Sikh Canadian community.
We are regularly approached by members of the community facing legal issues with respect to human rights or Sikh articles of faith.
A few examples of our legal team in action:
- Through the advocacy and government relations work of the WSO, kirpans are now accommodated at Canadian Consulates and Embassies across the world.
- We worked with the multinational corporation Kuehne & Nagel to develop a kirpan accommodation policy for Sikhs at their Canadian facilities.
- Working alongside the Royal Canadian Navy we developed a precedent-setting turban accommodation policy for Sikh personnel.
- We intervened on behalf of Sikh high school students when their teacher dismissed their commemoration of 1984 as propaganda. The students received an apology and teacher was educated on the appropriate response to such issues.
- We intervened on behalf of Sikh employees at a hospital in Saskatchewan who were told that the wearing of karas would not be permitted under the jewellery policy.
- We intervened on behalf of a Muslim woman who was denied the right to wear her hijab on a license in BC. She was granted the license subsequently.
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A Sikh employee in Peel was not being provided prayer time in the evenings to perform the Rehras Sahib prayer. The Company agreed to provide an appropriate break time after our intervention.
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We assisted a Sikh man who was arrested and then held in custody and presented in court without a turban. The case was settled and Sikhs are now assured of being provided turbans in custody in a timely manner
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We worked tirelessly to ensure that the Quebec Soccer Association's ban on religious headgear would be overturned so Sikh children could join their friends on the soccer pitch again.